Canto II XXI
White is the glassy deck, without a stain,Where on the watch the staid lieutenant walks:Look on that part which sacred doth remainFor the lone chieftain, who majestic stalks,Silent and feared by all: not oft he talksWith aught beneath him, if he would preserveThat strict restraint, which broken, ever baulksConquest and Fame: but Britons rarely swerveFrom law, however stern, which tends their strength to nerve.
Blow, swiftly blow, thou keel-compelling gale,Till the broad sun withdraws his lessening ray;Then must the pennant-bearer slacken sail,That lagging barks may make their lazy way.Ah! grievance sore, and listless dull delay,To waste on sluggish hulks the sweetest breeze!What leagues are lost before the dawn of day,Thus loitering pensive on the willing seas,The flapping sails hauled down to halt for logs like these!
The moon is up; by Heaven, a lovely eve!Long streams of light o'er dancing waves expand!Now lads on shore may sigh, and maids believe:Such be our fate when we return to land!Meantime some rude Arion's restless handWakes the brisk harmony that sailors love:A circle there of merry listeners stand,Or to some well-known measure featly move,Thoughtless, as if on shore they still were free to rove.
Words in this poem
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
- lagging n.
- The clothing (esp., an outer, wooden covering), as of a steam cylinder, applied to prevent the radiation of heat; a covering of lags; -- called also deading and cleading.
- grievance n.
- A cause of uneasiness and complaint; a wrong done and suffered; that which gives ground for remonstrance or resistance, as arising from injustice, tyranny, etc.; injury. [OF. grcvance. See Grieve, v. t.]
- listless a.
- Having no desire or inclination; indifferent; heedless; spiritless. [OE. listles, lustles. See Lust.]
- featly adv.
- Neatly; dexterously; nimbly. [From Feat, a.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Canto II XXI is in the public domain. This text is taken from Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Project Gutenberg ebook #5131; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Lord Byron, Canto II XXI, in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812–1818), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5131, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-childe-harold/canto-ii-xxi.html, id L06512.
Form and metre
Canto II XXI is 27 lines in 3 stanzas of 9 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABBCBCC, the Spenserian stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 22% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in the Spenserian stanza, other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABABBCBCC stainA · walksB · remainA · stalksB · talksB · preserveC · baulksB · swerveC · nerveC
- 2 ABABBCBCC galeA · rayB · sailA · wayB · delayB · breezeC · dayB · seasC · theseC
- 3 ABABBCBCC eveA · expandB · believeA · landB · handB · loveC · standB · moveC · roveC
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| White is the glassy deck, without a stain, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Where on the watch the staid lieutenant walks: | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Look on that part which sacred doth remain | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| For the lone chieftain, who majestic stalks, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Silent and feared by all: not oft he talks | 10 | /˘········ |
| With aught beneath him, if he would preserve | 10 | ········˘/ |
| That strict restraint, which broken, ever baulks | 10 | ··˘/·/˘/˘· |
| Conquest and Fame: but Britons rarely swerve | 10 | /˘···/˘/˘· |
| From law, however stern, which tends their strength to nerve. | 12 | ···/˘······· |
| Blow, swiftly blow, thou keel-compelling gale, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| Till the broad sun withdraws his lessening ray; | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| Then must the pennant-bearer slacken sail, | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| That lagging barks may make their lazy way. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Ah! grievance sore, and listless dull delay, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| To waste on sluggish hulks the sweetest breeze! | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| What leagues are lost before the dawn of day, | 10 | ·········· |
| Thus loitering pensive on the willing seas, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| The flapping sails hauled down to halt for logs like these! | 12 | ·/˘········· |
| The moon is up; by Heaven, a lovely eve! | 10 | ·····/·/˘· |
| Long streams of light o'er dancing waves expand! | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Now lads on shore may sigh, and maids believe: | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Such be our fate when we return to land! | 10 | ··/···˘/·· |
| Meantime some rude Arion's restless hand | 9 | /·····/˘· |
| Wakes the brisk harmony that sailors love: | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| A circle there of merry listeners stand, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Or to some well-known measure featly move, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Thoughtless, as if on shore they still were free to rove. | 12 | /˘·········· |
Notes from the edition 1
E. H. Coleridge's notes to Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, The Works of Lord Byron, Poetry vol. II (John Murray, 1899; Project Gutenberg #25340). Bracketed passages are the editor's; unbracketed are Byron's own (Cantos I-III) or John Cam Hobhouse's (Canto IV, his 'Historical Notes'). Digit footnotes ('[17]') are informational and numbered continuously through the whole book; end-notes keyed '[n.B.]' (Byron) or '[n.H.]' (Hobhouse) follow each canto and are numbered afresh from 1 there. Both kinds are placed here by matching each note's own quoted words against the site's text, not by the number or stanza the note states, because the site's text (Gutenberg #5131) and this edition (#25340) are different editions with different stanza counts in Canto I. Lettered footnotes ('[h]', '[dn]') are manuscript and edition variant readings and are not harvested, matching the treatment of Don Juan's and byron-works-3's lettered notes.
- Stanza 2, line 4 An additional "misery to human life!"--lying to at sunset for a large convoy, till the sternmost pass ahead. Mem.: fine frigate, fair wind likely to change before morning, but enough at present for ten knots!--[MS. D.]
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